One alleged China spy told another "you're in spy territory now", evidence published by the Government has revealed.

The messages were contained in evidence submitted by the Government in the China spying case which was published by Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday night amid claims of a "cover-up".

In it, Matthew Collins, the deputy national security adviser, alleges that information was leaked to Beijing about the Conservative leadership election, as well as Britain's policies on Taiwan and China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

The Cabinet Office late on Wednesday released three witness statements given by Mr Collins in the case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry.

The pair, who were accused of passing state secrets to Beijing, were never tried before a jury because the case collapsed last month after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that the Government had failed to provide evidence that China was a threat to national security.

The first witness statement - signed in 2023 - alleges that the Chinese state recruited Mr Berry to use Mr Cash as a sub-source with access to the China Research Group (CRG), the Parliamentary estate and to at least two senior Members of Parliament.

A mysterious figure named "Alex", said to be Mr Berry's Chinese handler, was identified by the Metropolitan Police's SO15 counter-terrorism unit to be an agent of the Chinese state.

Some of the information passed from Mr Cash to Mr Berry and then to Alex was confirmed to have been in the hands of a senior Chinese Communist Party official, Mr Collins said.

Two features of the material submitted by counter-terror police stood out to the deputy national security adviser as "particularly striking".

First, there were examples in the messages exchanged between Mr Berry and "Alex" requesting information from him as a matter of urgency. On one occasion, Mr Berry was allegedly able to provide the information within 13 hours of being contacted by Alex.

In July 2022 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Mr Berry was accused of meeting with a senior CCP leader - a meeting of which Mr Cash was allegedly made aware via voice note. Mr Cash responded in a string of messages on July 19, saying: "You're in spy territory now".

"These two features of the material indicate to me the value that was attached by the Chinese state to the information, obtained by Mr Cash that Mr Berry provided to 'Alex'," Mr Collins wrote.

He believed it was "highly unlikely" that a senior Chinese official would meet with Mr Berry unless the CCP thought by doing so they could obtain useful information.

Mr Collins explained that based on information from the counter-terrorism unit, Mr Cash is alleged to have passed information to Mr Berry about the Conservative Party leadership contest held between July and September 2022, and Tom Tugendhat's likely promotion to the Cabinet.

Mr Collins's statement says that Mr Cash told Mr Berry that Mr Tugendhat, who has been sanctioned by China for criticising Beijing, would "almost certainly obtain a Cabinet position from Rishi Sunak".

He said that this promotion would be given to him "in exchange for Tom Tugendhat's support on foreign policy matters". Mr Cash told Mr Berry that this information was "very off the record" and that he definitely should not tell his contacts in the CCP.

This information was described as "prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK" and could have "been useful to the Chinese Intelligence Services to assist with targeting".

Mr Berry is then alleged to have passed the information to Alex, who in turn sent it to a senior member of the CCP leadership.

Mr Cash allegedly told Mr Berry that Jeremy Hunt MP was likely to pull out of the Conservative leadership race and back Mr Tugendhat. In doing so, Mr Cash told Mr Berry that this was "v v confidential (defo don't share with your new employer)".

Mr Collins said Mr Berry indicated that Alex and a senior CCP leader "showed considerable interest in how any appointment within the UK political landscape would change the UK Government's policy on China". "Their interest was so much so that the senior CCP leader was asking specific questions about each MP within the Conservative leadership election one by one," Mr Collins wrote.

He added that the knowledge Mr Tugendhat may become a "minister of a department that has a significant role in shaping the UK's China Policy would have allowed China to ascertain the possible direction of the UK government, particularly on China-related issues".

The statement also referred to a policy discussion within the Government about the UK's policy on imports of products from Xinjiang, the region of China where Uyghur Muslims have been repressed by the state.

Mr Collins said that the intelligence "likely influenced China's understanding of the likelihood for diplomatic action" by the UK, and could have allowed Beijing to "pre-empt future diplomatic engagements on these issues".

He said this could "potentially weaken...the position of [the Government] in such engagements" and help direct "future potential influence operations".

Mr Collins also said that Mr Berry passed a tasking from Alex to Mr Cash with an offer of payment if Mr Cash could respond quickly.

In another passage, Mr Collins said Mr Berry told his alleged contact in the CCP that the China Research Group of Tory MPs was "briefing Rishi Sunak MP on his China policy" and that another group of MPs, which includes Sir Iain Duncan Smith, was briefing Liz Truss.

He said: "It is axiomatic that this is prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK for the Chinese state to have indirect access to one of the individuals providing policy advice to the now Prime Minister on China, with the potential to influence that advice."

Mr Berry is also said to have passed on several pieces of information to Alex about Taiwan. Mr Berry told Alex that a secret meeting had taken place between Taiwanese officials, Tom Tugendhat MP and Alicia Kearns MP.

Mr Berry allegedly revealed to Alex the identities of the officials as well as the fact they had discussed Taiwanese strategy for a potential attack from Beijing. The CCP claims that Taiwan is a part of China and has vowed to retake it.

He also indicated that a senior CCP leader spoke about how, if certain MPs were elected, there would be consequences for UK-China relations, the statement added.

Read the first statement in full:

In February this year, under the Labour government, Mr Collins provided a second statement, saying he had been asked to "amplify" his earlier submission.

This is understood to have happened after further requests from the CPS for evidence that demonstrated that China was a "threat" at the time the alleged offences took place.

Mr Collins listed a series of attacks on the UK, including through the APT31 Chinese-linked hacking group, and explained that China presents the "biggest state-based threat to the UK's economic security".

However, he added: "It is important for me to emphasise, however, that the Government is committed to pursuing a positive economic relationship with China.

"The Government believes that the UK must continue to engage with international partners on trade and investment to grow our economy, while ensuring that our security and values are not compromised."

Mr Collins also provided further details on the senior CCP leader, who is said to have been appointed Deputy Director of the Office of the CPC Central National Security Commission.

The creation of the NSC was announced in 2014, with President Xi Jinping its chairman, Mr Collins noted.

Read the second statement in full:

After further requests from the CPS to establish that China was a threat to national security, Mr Collins gave prosecutors a third statement in August.

In that statement, he said Chinese intelligence services "conduct large scale espionage operations against the UK to advance the Chinese state's interests and harm the interests and security of the UK".

He said that Chinese spying "threaten[s] the UK's economic prosperity and resilience and the integrity of our democratic institutions", but stopped short of describing Beijing as a threat to national security.

Listing an example of Beijing's espionage, Mr Collins said the government had identified a pattern of "malicious cyber activity" by Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals targeting democratic organisations and parliaments in March 2024.

It was assessed that the electoral commission commission systems were "highly likely compromised by a Chinese state-affiliated entity between 2021 and 2022.

APT31, the Chinese-linked hacking group, was also identified as "almost certainly" being behind online "reconnaissance activity" against MPs' emails during a separate campaign in 2021.

"It is important for me to emphasise, however, that the UK government is committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China to strengthen understanding, cooperation and stability," Mr Collins added.

Read the third statement in full:

Earlier on Wednesday it emerged that a Cabinet Office inquiry was ordered into a breach after Beijing was able to purchase a company which controlled a data hub used by Whitehall departments to store classified information.

In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr Cash said: "I have not had the daylight of a public trial to show my innocence and I should not have to take part in a trial by media.

"The statements that have been made public are completely devoid of the context that would have been given at trial. Furthermore, the assessments of the information shared would have been subject to a root and branch challenge.

"Those assessments would not have withstood the scrutiny of a public trial."